An Analysis of the Effects of Social Capital on the Sense of Spatial Belonging of Rural Households in Drought Conditions in Dorud County

Drought is one of the natural disasters that is very common, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. This phenomenon can occur in any region and affect humans and the environment; however, its effects in rural areas are much greater than in other areas due to the dependence of livelihood on rainfall. As a result, past droughts have severely reduced the sense of spatial belonging of rural households. Therefore, the factors that can affect this field are undeniably necessary. Accordingly, this study was conducted with the general purpose of studying the effects of social capital on the sense of spatial belonging of rural households in drought conditions. The statistical population of the study included all rural households - farmers of Dorud County. The sample size consisted of 375 heads of households selected for the study using the Krejcie and Morgan table. For collecting data, a questionnaire was designed. The validity of this questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data analysis was performed in two sections of descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS23 and Lisrel8.54 software. The results of grouping rural households showed that they are not in a good position in terms of spatial belonging and social capital. In addition, the results of structural equation modeling showed that the dimensions of social capital with a coefficient of explanation of 51% (γ = 0.71, t = 11.89) have a positive and significant effect on the sense of spatial belonging of rural households in drought conditions.